Paths of the Shadow

Blurb

Skeptical historian Nicholas Swift reads life like a book of rules: if it can’t be proved, it’s probably not worth his time. Dispelling historical myths and shedding light on preconceived ideas, Nicholas’ life is comprised of logic and reason. That is until he’s informed by the residents of a small village as to the appearance of strange unexplainable occurrences. Suddenly Nicholas becomes enthralled into a world of mystique and legend as he is flung head first into a world beyond his imagination. Whilst Nicholas encounters characters of all creed and colour on their own epic journeys he must look inside himself and answer questions unlike any before. Only through true understanding of the world around him can Nicholas realise his own destiny.

The Reunion

Dr. Nicholas Swift, thirty-eight
years old, could not pretend to be very fond of company. Rather, if he had to
use definite terms to describe himself – not that he was ever tempted to –
"socially awkward" would probably be the most accurate. Exceedingly
serious, sporadically prickly, with a dry, sarcastic wit that was sharpened by
extended bachelorhood, Dr. Swift was painfully aware of his stand-outishness in
the social events he had to attend, in the course of his work or otherwise.

Tonight was to be otherwise.

It was a reunion of old school
friends, most of whom he hadn't seen for the past twenty years. Has it really been that long? He
asked himself incredulously as he was getting ready. Has it? He asked again as
he stared at his image in the mirror, at the trim figure in a modest but
well-cut dark grey suit, at the thick black hair with no shade of silver, nor
any hint of beginning to recede, at the nearly lineless face. He couldn't say
he felt young, because he doubted he ever felt that. But he felt no older than he had at seventeen - nor any
fonder of the schoolfellows, the subject of whose taunts he had been during his
teen years. Well, at least he had to thank fate, or God, or whoever ruled up above,
for giving him enough intelligence to shine at every exam. It sparked envy, but
it also helped him pull through school without his spirit sinking too low. It
helped him keep his head above water.

That, and Andrew.

Andrew, damn the man, was also the one
who roped him into going to this reunion tonight. Nicholas tried to wriggle out
of it – he had a mountainous pile of work waiting for him at the office, he
thought he was beginning to feel the onset of a cold, he promised his mother he
would visit and he couldn't foresee another opportunity of doing that this week
– but all was in vain, just as he knew it would be. Somehow, Andrew always had
his own way… which was often to the good, Nicholas was forced to admit.

Andrew was the only real friend he
made in school – why him of all people, nobody could comprehend, as the two
boys seemed the perfect opposites. Andrew was blond, boisterous, easy to laugh,
the soul of every company; Nicholas long, lanky, black-haired, glum, slinking
into the shadows at the first opportunity. What they had in common wasn't easy
to understand at first – but there was the goodness of basic nature, the
integrity of character, and above all youth, which so often endears two very
different people to each other. Andrew became the protector of Nicholas, which
caused sneers and jokes about "little Nick hiding behind Mommy's
skirts"; but Andrew, without actually declaring it, recognized and
admired his friend's superior intellect – although in some matters, as he
always claimed, Nicholas remained woefully ignorant.

In the past five years, they have not
seen each other quite as often as before. The paths they chose in life were as
different as their personalities. Andrew went into car tire manufacturing, and
after a decade of steadily rising found himself the owner of a successful
company, while Nicholas became a historian specializing in the study of the
Middle Ages – and more often than he cared to admit, slipped off the solid land
of fact into the murky waters of myth and legend. Still, he and Andrew were
bound by mutual affection and met fairly regularly – up until the latter's
marriage. The charming Emily, blond and pretty and as well-suited to Andrew as
a woman could be, did not have to try very hard to snare him, as he was quite
ready to fall into the trap himself. Five years and two children later, Andrew
passed his days in vast contentment, master in both his home and his work
place, and the only thing he had to complain about was the length of commute –
upon marrying, he left the City center and moved into a handsome suburban house
of, as he insisted, his choosing (although it was really Emily's). Nicholas, in
the meantime, stubbornly remained a bachelor.

He could have married, of course.
Perhaps he should have married, as Andrew kept insistently reminding him –
himself being a perfect rosy illustration of domestic bliss. While not what one
would normally call a charmer, Nicholas was not unattractive, and his salary,
though not lucrative, was perfectly fit to live on. He was highly respected in
the academy, already had several published works under his belt, the most
intriguing of which probably was "A
Trail of Blood – Why the Vampire Myths in Bosnia were so difficult to
dispel?" It was this book that brought him to the knowledge of the
general public, although admittedly, it also caused criticism from some of his
colleagues for "perpetuating a myth that should be dead and buried just as
the so-called vampires are." But as the ever-cheerful Andrew told him,
envy dies hard.

So why didn't Dr. Nicholas Swift, a
reasonably successful, potentially pleasant man marry? Admittedly, he did not
feel any particular urge to. He did not recall the feeling of burning desire,
except perhaps once, when he was very young… half a boy, in fact, and in a co-ed
school one could hardly expect not to… but it was over and done with before it
even began. The girl was in her senior year and didn't even notice his
existence. She left school at the end of term and, as he heard, married early.
He never knew what became of her, and her features were hazy in his mind's eye
now. He could not even recall her name.

He doubted she would come to this
reunion. If it depended on him, he wouldn't be going himself. The only person
he wanted to see there was Andrew, and he didn't need to drive two hours to see
Andrew. They could meet any old time, like in days gone by. In fact, he was
about to pick up the phone, dial his friend's number and suggest just that,
when he heard a ring. He heaved a sigh and answered, knowing who it must be
before he even heard the familiar voice.

"Nick!" it sounded as
though Andrew was in the highest spirits. "I just decided to ring you
before I get into the car. You ready?"

"Not quite," Dr. Swift
replied evasively.

"Aren't thinking of not going, now,
are you?" he could practically see Andrew squinting in suspicion. While
not a man of outstanding clairvoyance, Andrew was quick to pick up on anything
that concerned people he cared about. And Nicholas knew he couldn't say what
was on the tip of his tongue a minute ago.

"Choosing a tie," Andrew
repeated sagely. "I see. Now, Nick," his voice was different now,
brisk, the kind of tone one doesn't argue with. "If you don't get going
now, you'll miss out on the best part of the evening, and I won't have that, do
you hear me?"

"I'll be on my way in five
minutes," promised Nicholas.

"Emily can't wait to see
you," were Andrew's first words after a warm handshake. "She says it
won't hurt you to have some fun, and I happen to agree with her
completely."

"Emily is always so
thoughtful," replied Nicholas with just a tinge of sourness, but his
friend didn't miss that. A finger rose into the air like an exclamation mark as
the two proceeded towards the open area outside, where tables of refreshments
and drinks were laid out.

"You don't know my wife as I
do," declared Andrew, shaking his raised finger at Nicholas and mercifully
missing the double meaning of his own words. "Emily is always concerned
about everyone. And," he paused meaningfully, "there might be…
others, who are just as interested in meeting you."

"Oh yes," Nicholas nodded
vigorously, "such as Jeremy Logan, for example. Or… what was his name?
Robert? Or Rupert? Allen, I mean. I'm sure the fun they derived from sticking
my head in the toilet was a peak of amusement life never threw in their way
again."

Andrew laughed. "I didn't know
you still remember that,"
he confessed, "although of course, I realize you have less fond memories
of school than I do. But it's not just schoolfellows here… there's someone –
someone who has read your book about vampires and was highly impressed."

"It was not a book about
vampires," Dr. Swift corrected him. "It was a book about how vampires,
as lucrative as the myth may seem, never
existed. Which point, I believe, I should have done a better job in
clarifying."

Andrew waved a dismissive hand.
"I think we discussed the matter at least a dozen times. It makes no
difference. Emily has a – a niece," under his friend's piercing stare, his
voice lost a notch of its cocksureness, "a young lady who came across your
book as background reading for a college assignment, and, ah," he shifted
his weight from one foot to the other, "expressed a wish to meet you in
person, once she knew we were friends."

It must be said to Andrew's credit
that he had the grace to look abashed. "I saw no reason not to – "

Nicholas stopped walking and sighed.
"Look, Andy," he said, dropping pretence of coolness, "we can be
honest with each other, can't we? I know what you are trying to do, and I
appreciate your good intentions. But seriously, a college girl, you can't think
– "

"No, no, no!" Andrew
protested vehemently. "This is not what you think! I would never – "

"No? Well, then, what about that
friend of Emily's, who just happened to
pass by that restaurant you two dragged me to on New Year's eve? And you, you
filthy hypocrite, you had the audacity to tell me –"

"Oh, alright, alright,"
hissed Andrew, "I admit we set it all up, and it was foolish of me, I
should have known Laura is not your type, but for heaven's sake keep your voice
down, Nick, there's everyone… and there's Emily."

And sure enough, in the crowd milling
by the long tables stood Emily, looking as fashionable as ever in a cocktail
dress of shocking pink that made a stunning effect against her highlighted
blond hair. She was such a squeaky clean image of prettiness it almost made Nicholas
smile, that is, until the young woman standing next to her turned to the sound
of their footsteps, and –

And he saw a ghost. Not someone
returned from the dead, but someone who nevertheless was no more.

A very lovely, very lively ghost with
short, soft-looking chestnut curls and eyes of deep blue, that looked so like –
but no, of course it couldn't be her, and the resemblance was not exact, well,
at least he thoughtso, he could
not be sure now after all these years, and the blue dress she wore was so
becoming he nearly blurted out something to this effect, which of course would
have been perfect idiocy, and –

Andrew cleared his throat.

"Nicholas, this is Kate Nuland,
Emily's niece."

Dr Swift's black eyes burned into
Emily's laughing pale grey ones, almost accusingly. "I was not aware that
you had a niece, Emily. I didn't even know you had a sister."

"Oh, I do," she didn't seem
remotely aware of his perturbation. "I mean… Terry is a half-sister, and
her relations with the family are somewhat strained, which is why you didn't
see her at our wedding. But perhaps you know Terry?" her inquisitive look
was innocent and wide. "She went to this same school, only a few years
above you – isn't that so, Andy? She regretted not being able to come tonight,
but hoped her daughter would prove to be a worthy substitute," Emily
gestured towards Kate, who grinned nervously. Nicholas could only nod vacantly,
his mind in a state of furious work.

Terry. Yes, of course her name was
Terry. How could he have forgotten? But of course, it was all so long ago. And
Andrew, wasn't he aware that… he cut this thread of thought abruptly. Stop it. No one but yourself knew of that
teenage agony. You would rather die than tell even your best friend, don't you
remember?

He forced a smile, which she
uncertainly returned. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Nuland."

"The pleasure is mine, Dr
Swift."

He was still thinking about her – and
chastising himself for it - when the phone rang mid-morning the day after.

"How's it going?" asked
Andrew with unconvincing nonchalance.

"Oh, just fine," replied
Nicholas in equally unconvincing airy tones. Then there was a silence, each
waiting for the other to break it. Andrew was the first to do so. He harrumped.

"My…" Nicholas spluttered.
"I have no need of a
personal assistant," he said reasonably, ignoring the sudden violent
beating of his heart at the whole wide range of possibilities Andrew's
suggestion presented.Stop it, you
miserable old fool. Whatever is going on, you will not allow it to proceed any
further. "I never had one, and even if there was work enough for
an assistant, it would be the faculty's prerogative to choose and hire one for
me."

"Now, now, Nick," Andrew
went on placidly. "I know how much respect they have for you. If you said
you need an assistant, they wouldn't argue. And if you said you know a person
of excellent qualifications for this job, a Miss Catherine Nuland, I'm sure
your opinion would be taken into consideration."

Nicholas was seized by a sudden
vision of a young woman in a dress of blue satin, shaking her chestnut curls
and laughing softly as she stirred her martini. To see her again… but to concede to what Andy was offering
would be, he realized, an act of utmost foolishness.

"Why would a lively young woman
like your niece want a boring job such as being a researcher's assistant?"

"You might say it's a boring
job… but Kate is hoping for some vampire-hunting," said Andrew jovially.

Nicholas let out an exasperated sigh.
"I wish the idea for the stupid book about the stupid vampires had never
occurred to me," he said. "Andy, even if I had an assistant, the work
would be answering phone calls, copying documents, organizing files… things
like that. And to be frank, I'm getting on just fine by myself."

"I know you are," agreed
Andy, "that is why you are thirty-eight with no prospects of settling
down, isn't that so?"

"That's neither here nor
there," Dr Swift replied haughtily.

"Alright, alright," Andrew
sounded different now, more serious, "your bachelorhood isn't the issue
here. The truth is, I'm asking this as a special favor for Kate and her family.
The girl is very young," he lowered his voice, "just completed her
degree in social studies, but that's nothing. She has no idea what she wants to
do next. Now she got it into her head that she would like to study history, or
perhaps archeology. She isn't sure which, but whichever it is, her poor mother
seized upon the idea gratefully. There were some very disturbing moves she made
recently," Andrew's voice was reduced almost to a whisper now, so that
Nicholas caught only snatches of words here and there. "There was a Hindu
sect… a hippie camp… a French boyfriend, and no good came out of it…"

"Strange. She seemed to be a
reasonable young lady," remarked Nicholas.

"She's young, and has a warm
heart. That by itself is enough to make her gullible."

Once more, it appeared to Nicholas in
plain view that Andrew's will was going to overpower his own – and despite his
rigid self-control, the hint of a thrill broke through. "Let's say I
agree," he said, "what am I to do with her?"

"Well," Andrew hesitated,
"Kate speaks French, surely that counts for something? Set her up to
translating documents, gathering materials… I'm sure you can come up with
things to keep her occupied, at least for a while."

"Her interest won't last long,
once she realizes I'm dealing with fact, not legend," warned Nicholas.

Andrew snorted. "You really
believe you can unearth fact when you dig through ten centuries of legend?"

"You'll be surprised,"
Nicholas replied in his prickly manner. He could afford to be prickly now; he
knew Andrew would not be offended. After all, he got what he was asking for.
Nicholas promised to speak to the administration the following morning.

His application proceeded smoothly,
all needed documents were procured, and Miss Catherine Nuland was appointed as
Dr Swift's research assistant. She was to begin her work on Monday.

The night before, Nicholas tossed and
turned in his bed, unable to sleep. You
are being ridiculous, he admonished himself. She is a girl, of an age when the world seems wide and confusing. She
has no true interest in your work, and even less in you. Don't be such a fool
as to think something depends on tomorrow. And yet he could find no
rest.

She was more punctual than he
expected, and at nine o'clock sharp she presented herself at work, almost
childlike eagerness in her every gesture. It will be gone soon enough, thought
Dr Swift almost sadly, but he greeted her with as paternally cordial a smile as
he could summon. She was wearing loose beige slacks and a pale pink turtleneck
sweater, with pale pink shoes to match. Nicholas would have wondered what
madness possessed her to cut her beautiful hair so short, if Andrew hadn't confided
at him that it was a fit during which she made the most serious plans to pledge
her life to a monastery in Tibet. And again, Nicholas found it difficult to
believe that of this particular young woman standing in front of him. She
seemed so collected, so well-balanced – more than is usual at our age, in fact.
A woman who would make an excellent wife someday to some lucky man. Stop it this instant, you idiot. How long
are you going to continue standing outside the office? It's about to rain.

"Good morning, Miss
Nuland," he greeted her.

"Good morning, Dr Swift. Oh, and
please call me Kate," her smile showed an adorable dimple in one of her
cheeks.

Kate is too brisk a name for her, he
thought. Cathy would suit her better, but of course he only nodded. He avoided
looking into those blue eyes, lest he be lost, and cursed Andrew for putting
him in a situation that would only rob him of peace.

There was no space for a proper
office or even a reception area for Kate, of course; a mere spare desk was
shoved into a hastily cleared corner of his office. A phone and some office
supplies graced its bare surface in an obviously insufficient way. He stole a
quick glance at Kate, to determine whether she looks disappointed, but couldn't
figure it out. His own desk looked so cluttered he felt ashamed of himself for
not having made any attempt to clear it before the weekend.

"That is your place, Miss –
Kate," he hastily corrected himself. "Not much, I'm afraid, but I
hope it will make do. There are some documents," he gestured towards a
pile of papers neatly stacked at one corner of her desk, "that I would be
grateful if you translated for me. There are some essays by French colleagues
of mine, and I've been meaning to look through them for a while now… but my
knowledge of French is woefully poor. You, on the other hand, speak and read
fluent French, or so I understood from your uncle?"

"Yes," Kate nodded
matter-of-factly. "I spent some years in a school in France," she
gave the French articles a fleeting look. "Before I begin… would you like
me to make you a cup of tea, Dr Swift?"

He looked genuinely shocked. "Oh
no," he said hastily. "No, no, there's no need of that. I have a
little kitchenette just beyond that wall, and I've always managed perfectly
fine to make my own tea. You are not here for such… mm… such tasks, Kate. You
are a research assistant."

"Whatever suits you, Dr
Swift," she said lightly, with a resolute shake of her short curls. She
took a deep breath. "I do want to thank you, however," she blurted
out. "I believe I owe you a confession… I'm a fair worker, but my
attention is shallow, inconstant. I have never really been able to interest
myself in a single thing over a reasonably long span of time. That is why I
admire your concentration and determination so much… I realize that the amount
of research you must put into your written works is staggering. And that is why
I feel so thankful for getting this opportunity to work alongside you,"
she added with a faint blush.

"We'll see how thankful you are
when the day is done," Dr Swift said wryly. Without another word, Kate
slid gracefully into the chair behind her desk, one with lumpy and leaking
stuffing, and commenced her work. A short while later, she lifted her face from
the desk, and Nicholas saw that her eyes shone with the expression of pleasant
surprise.

"It is about a legend I
know," she said, indicating the article on the translation of which she
was working. "The source of it is in Avignon, and it is still told locally
among the elder inhabitants of the town. I've heard it personally; one of my
best friends from school lives there, and I visited several times during the
holidays."

"What legend is that?"
asked Dr Swift.

"Well, you know, of course, that
for a time Avignon served as the seat of the Roman Catholic church," Kate
said matter-of-factly, and Dr Swift was inwardly impressed. "Sometime in
the thirteenth or the fourteenth century, the town came under threat of
heretics who wanted to bend the church to their will. So the Pope himself
raised his arms up to the sky and prayed, and an hour later, a thick cloud
descended from the sky and covered the town in impregnable shadow, which lasted
until the threat passed."

"Ah, yes," nodded Nicholas,
"a well-known legend. Only there is another part to it, Kate. Before long
it was discovered that the merciful shadow was not at all the work of the holy
Pope, but the subtle deed of an evasive local sorceress. She was discovered,
interrogated, arrested, tried and condemned to burning at stake for practicing
witchcraft."

"But why?" Kate exclaimed
indignantly. "She saved their city!"

"It is only a tale," Dr
Swift reminded her. "As modern, intelligent people, you and I of course
know that there were never any witches."

"Of course," Kate deflated,
looking abashed. "So what happened to the poor woman? Did they really do
it to her?"

"To her, and to countless
others. Those were ruthless times, Kate. But some claim she never burned,"
he added after a pause, "some say that when they approached the witch with
torches, she cast a spell and hid herself beneath the same black shadow that
formerly engulfed Avignon. And that no one was able to discover a trace of her
since."

Kate shuddered. "I wish the
burnings were only a legend," she murmured.

"Alas, they are not," said
Nicholas, not unkindly. "But who is the author of this article? Ah yes, of
course. Michel Dubois, I've had the chance to meet him several times. I hope
the legend only serves as background to content of more solid substance."

Kate resumed her work. It was a
dreary morning, with grey rain beating in a monotonous lull against the
window-panes. Around noon, when Dr Swift was about to suggest they take a lunch
break, footsteps sounded in the usually deserted corridor, and the silhouette
of a man appeared behind the glass door. A brisk knock was heard.

A fountain pen fell from the
slackened grip of Kate's fingers. The startled Dr Swift noticed that her face
paled and her eyes widened in the same characteristic expression he wore when
he met her for the first time – that of seeing a spirit.

Saph:
I liked the novel, but it has many grammer and punctuation mistakes. It also seems like it was rushing a lot. I wish there was a description of everyone's appearance, like hight, hair length, hair color, eye color, and hair type. It didn't flow that well but it was still understandable and pretty...

Peaceapeace:
It is a fitting sequel to the unnoticed mate. I liked that it focused on second chances. I like the characters and the flow of the story. But we were not told what happened to the rogue wolf who was the cause of all the problems

nattynat:
Everything about this book is AMAZING. From the beginning...the plot. the twist. the climax. the ending...everything is GREAT! And of course...the writer is incredibly AMAZING too. Love this book soooo much.

DeepDarkMystery:
This book was good and had a solid storyline throughout. The changing POV’s and third person POV’s could be confusing at times but the story still flowed, a few grammatical errors and spelling mistakes here and there but this book we brilliant. Many thanks to the author :)

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